COVENTRY ALVIS
A BANK Holiday weekend ended in mixed feelings for Coventry Alvis as they picked up three points from a possible six in their latest Midland League fixtures.
Damian Cassidy’s side had to come from behind twice on Saturday as they recorded a morale boosting 4-2 win at Cadbury Athletic.
The hosts made a perfect start when Romario Rose was left unchallenged as he made a twisting run towards goal before scoring on two minutes.
Dennis Oppong then scored from the penalty spot for the Green Lane outfit after 17 minutes, but Cadbury Athletic regained the initiative with Andrew Cooper netting on the half hour.
Coventry Alvis equalised for the second time when Oppong converted another penalty, placing the ball in the bottom right corner.
Incredibly, the first half ended with a third penalty. But this time Reece Mitchell blazed his shot over the Coventry Alvis bar.
Corey Blackwood made a dramatic goal line clearance to prevent Cadbury’s Callum Burston Keeley adding a third goal for the hosts.
Blackwood’s clearance proved to be the turning point in the game as Aaron Cooke put Alvis in front for the first time with a header from a free kick on the hour.
Ryan Pace then added a fourth goal ten minutes later with another header from a cross as Alvis ran out 4-2 winners.
There was no such luck on Bank Holiday Monday though as Alvis were beaten by three goals at Ilkeston.
Not only did Alvis lose, they also lost 18-year-old defender Corey Blackwood – who was admitted to hospital to assess an achilles injury.
This disrupted the Alvis side, and on 39 minutes Alex Marshall opened the account for the Derbyshire outfit with a back post header.
Further second half goals from Lavell Waite and Marshall gave Ilkeston Town the three points.
COVENTRY SPHINX
COVENTRY Sphinx proved they could be a force to be reckoned with in this season’s Midland Football League Premier Division after defeating Bromsgrove Sporting 2-0.
Goals from Chris Sterling and Ryan Harkin ended a 22-game unbeaten run for the Rouslers, whose misery was compounded when goalkeeper Reece Francis was sent off and James Ward missed a penalty with the score at 1-0.
The warning signs were on the wall early doors for the visitors when Sterling had a shot hacked off the line by Jordan Jones inside five minutes before the striker then volleyed wide from inside the area after connecting with Alex Tomkinson’s cross.
It took until the 30th minute for a lethargic Sporting to get their first meaningful chance as Robbie Bunn saw a shot deflect its way through to Sphinx keeper Scott Dutton from the edge of the area.
Within a matter of moments, Liam Spink then volleyed over the bar from distance and those missed chances came back to hurt the Rouslers.
Six minutes before the break, Rhys Deeman’s cross was picked up by Sterling who neatly turned his marker inside the box before firing into the far corner to give the hosts a deserved lead.
Sporting’s afternoon was made worse in the second minute of first-half stoppage time when goalkeeper Francis brought down Harkin on the edge of the area and received a straight red card for his troubles.
Defender Aaron Roberts was forced to put the gloves on as ten-man Sporting battled hard in the second half to force their way back into the game.
Richard Gregory and Spink had chances just before the hour mark but both failed to force Dutton into a save for a Sphinx side which were being forced into their own area.
Sporting’s pressure eventually paid off in the 85th minute when Spink’s cross was handballed in the area.
Ward took the spot-kick but he miscued it horribly, with the ball dribbling well wide of the mark.
With one big chance missed at one end, Sphinx made the most of theirs up the other in the dying moments when Harkin beat the offside trap before rounding the onrushing Roberts and slotting into an empty net.
COVENTRY UNITED
COVENTRY United put three goals past Worcester City at the Butts Park Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The win left United sitting pretty in the top half of the Midland Football League Premier Division after winning four of their opening five matches.
A goalless first half was followed by a period of domination, which led to United’s three goals.
Just four minutes into the second half, United took the lead when Mitchell Piggon’s cross met Lewis Rankin at the back post – who made no mistake from scoring at close range.
United’s lead was doubled seconds later when Gift Mussa set up Craig Reid who steered the ball over the line from close range.
It took Terry Anderson’s men another 19 minutes to register their third goal, which secured the three points when Jeff Woodward opened his account.
United’s success continued into bank holiday Monday when they defeated Westfields FC 6-1 away from home.
